Portland Timbers use Adi brace & first penalty awarded to knock off Real Salt Lake 3 to 1 on road

View full sizeFanendo Adi was at it again, scoring another brace in 2014 for the Timbers. After tallying both goals in Portland's last road win against Chivas USA back on May 28, Adi tallied another two goals against Real Salt Lake. RSL had been a nemesis of Portland's over the years, and the result finally breaks a long streak of dominance for them over the Timbers.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

The first
time Real Salt Lake and Portland met in Major League Soccer regular season play
was April 30, 2011 in Portland, and the
home side used a scrappy defensive effort on a sunny evening to post a dramatic
1 to 0 win. Both clubs were dealing
with varying emotional hangovers, but that victory by Portland was the last
time that a Timbers side had defeated RSL in any competition since – eight regular
season meetings, the two leg playoff series in 2013 or the U.S. Open Cup semi-final
match in August 2013. Whether it was the
Timbers being vexed by RSL's diamond midfield formation, Real Salt Lake getting
unexpected performances from certain players on their roster, or unfortunate
mistakes by the Timbers that put them into deficits, it always seemed like
something kept Portland from equally matching up with RSL. After an emotionally draining Cascadia Cup
defeat to Vancouver back on June 1, Portland turned their attention to the road
to Rio Tinto Stadium – where they had only secured one point in five visits to
Utah. However, the Timbers turned in one
of their most impressive efforts of the 2014 season, and used
a Fanendo Adi brace and their first penalty of the season, successfully
converted by Will Johnson, to defeat Real Salt Lake 3 to 1. The pattern of the game started out very
similarly to previous visits with RSL taking a lead, but Portland didn't go
quietly and posted one of their most remarkable wins of the year.

Portland
was looking to continue the positive momentum from two huge wins on the road
before the disheartening result against the Caps, but the task seemed rather
daunting considering their history versus RSL.
However, Portland has been regaining their confidence and health on the
team, and those developments gave Timbers Coach Caleb Porter plenty of options
to select his starting eleven. Defender
Alvas Powell was back from international duty, but Porter chose to stick with
the successful duo of Jorge Villafana and Jack Jewsbury as the full backs, but
he used another differing combo at center back with Rauwshan McKenzie partnering
with Norberto Paparatto. With the
midweek trade of Futty Danso and Pa Modou Kah dealing with various knocks, it
would be up to Paparatto and McKenzie to hold down the fort in front of
goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. In the
midfield, Porter used the dynamic Johnson alongside Diego Chara at defensive
mid, employing Gaston Fernandez as the attacking midfielder. Up top, Adi would get the start at center
forward with Darlington Nagbe and Diego Valeri flanking him to the left and
right respectively. Powell would be
among the seven options as subs, along with Danny O'Rourke, Kalif Alhassan,
Andrew Weber, Maximiliano Urruti, Michael Nanchoff, and Steve Zakuani.

View full sizeTimbers' captain Will Johnson, shown here during a 2013 match at home, was playing in familiar haunts as he played for Real Salt Lake for several seasons before joining the Timbers. Johnson was able to score a goal against his former side from the penalty spot after former teammate Chris Schuler rolled over the ball in the box and his arm came into contact with the ball. Rick Curwen, community blogger

Real Salt
Lake was dealing with some lineup issues of their own, as they were missing two
key players within their attack because of the upcoming World Cup tournament. Regular goalkeeper Nick Rimando and
midfielder Kyle Beckerman were both gone with the U.S. Men's National Team as
they headed to Brazil, but RSL was also missing leading scorer Alvaro Saborio
due to a foot injury that required surgery.
Saborio would likely have been representing Costa Rica in the World Cup
as well, but the foot surgery ended that dream and will keep him from playing
for the next three to four months. RSL
has plenty of viable options, however, as Jeff Attinella has filled in at
goalkeeper for Rimando exceptionally well.
Jaoa Plata was back after dealing with a lingering hamstring issue, while
Olmes Garcia, Ned Grabavoy, Luis Gil, and Javier Morales would combine with
newcomer Luke Mulholland to give RSL a fairly strong midfield and offense.

First Half Thoughts: Much like previous
meetings, the pattern of the match started out with Real Salt Lake putting
forth a strong challenge on goal as center back Nat Borchers just missed left
with a header off a Morales corner in the 6th minute. Portland countered with their own near miss in
the 11th minute when Villafana put a speculative cross in from the
side to Valeri off a give and go with Nagbe, but Valeri's header fell at the
feet of Attinella to make the save, but otherwise seemed to be trying to find their
chemistry. RSL put forth several quality
shots from Gil and Morales in the 22nd minute that were only kept
from goal by some exceptional goalkeeping from Ricketts, but in the 23rd
minute, even Ricketts couldn't stop Mulholland from adding a goal to his
stats. Off a corner kick from Morales,
RSL defender Chris Schuler headed the ball back towards the top of the box
where Mulholland had tucked into space.
The ball found the RSL midfielder without a mark, and he was able to
turn and shoot past Ricketts to put the home side up 1 to 0.

This
seemed to fit the beginning of many matchups with RSL and Portland, but the conceded
goal seemed to wake up the Timbers attack and their urgency to pressure was
suddenly triggered. Attinella did have
to receive medical attention after taking a hard challenge in the 25th
minute, and Garcia tested Ricketts in the 28th minute, but
otherwise, the offense was starting to find a bit of room to work and press
forward. While Adi ran afoul of the offside flag in the 31st minute
to show the team was pressuring, the defense was starting to get engaged in the
34th minute when Plata and Paparatto tangled near the Timbers goal
on a through ball. Paparatto felt he was
tripped by Plata and confronted the RSL player, where he shoved the Timbers
defender in retaliation. It did appear
the contact was incidental, but Paparatto showed that he wasn't' going to take
anything from RSL either. Minutes later
off a Timbers corner from Valeri, Adi smashed a header to the right corner and
Attinella was unable to make any effort to stop it, and in the 36th
minute, the match was all level. The
Timbers were showing some fight to their game, and the tempo was starting to
favor the Timbers in terms of possession and pace. While Portland was happy to
possess the ball, they were also showing more willingness to attack forward and
counter when they could.

Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri was at it again, orchestrating the Timbers offense. He notched his eight assist of the season off a 36th minute corner kick when Adi headed home the cross for the Timbers' first goal of the night.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Valeri and
Mulholland both put great chances on goal around the 40th minute,
and it looked as though the sides would go into the break level until Portland
was able to strike just before stoppage time.
Mulholland's shot forced a wonderful save from Ricketts after he had
made a spectacular gaffe while trying to find a teammate with the throw, but he
showed well to block the ball from slightly behind him. Johnson created a
turnover in the Timbers end and pushed forward, dropping a ball to Nagbe in
traffic and he fed Fernandez with a pass to the left with Adi, Nagbe and Will
in support. Gaston held up the run,
slotted the pass back to the right for Nagbe, and he unleashed a missile that
hit Attinella and bounced towards RSL defender Chris Wingert. The ball struck Wingert's arm and fell to the
feet of Adi, who calmly tapped it into goal and suddenly, the Timbers were
holding the lead. The stoppage time
produced a couple of attempts, but otherwise, Portland was able to keep their
advantage going into the break, and considering their statistical returns in
possessing and passing, it was a just reward for their work up to this point.

Second Half Thoughts: Neither side chose to
make a move relating to their lineups, but Real Salt Lake did have to make a
significant tactical change early in the second half courtesy of an ejection to
RSL defender Tony Beltran. After a
turnover by RSL forced by Villafana in their end in the 52nd minute where
the home side had sustained pressure on the goal, the ball fell out to Valeri
who passed it wide to Nagbe. While
running along to get some space to create, Beltran grabbed Nagbe's arm and
shirt in an attempt to slow him down.
Center official Ismail Elfath wasted no time to pull out the caution,
especially since on the play Beltran made no attempt to go after the ball. Less than a minute later, Beltran was at it
again with Nagbe as he moved along the flank to try and find a teammate. As Nagbe slid by him to move, Beltran held
his arm back momentarily then left both feet to execute a pretty dangerous
slide tackle from behind. Elfath initially
called the foul to indicate a stoppage of play, but in mulling it over and
reviewing the situation, he eventually grabbed the yellow to show to
Beltran. With his first yellow in the
book already, Beltran's night was done early with the second infraction.

Despite having
the man advantage, Portland struggled to find any precision although Nagbe
generated a shot on goal in the 56th minute, and RSL decided to change
things up with bringing on Kenny Mansally for Plata. Second after entering, however, Portland was
forced to make a move when Morales and Paparatto had a collision going for a
ball and Paparatto slumped to the grass with a hurt ankle or foot. Because of the thinness at center back,
Porter brought on O'Rourke to play alongside McKenzie for the remainder of the
match. Grabavoy's night was done minutes
later due to a slight injury, as the physicality between both sides had escalated
more as the affair went on. Zakuani came
on minutes later for Fernandez in at attempt to garner more speed, and Zakuani's
pace ended up contributing to another goal for the visitors.

View full sizeTimbers forward Darlington Nagbe was again fouled repeatedly against Real Salt Lake, but he was also able to generate some shots on goal that nearly put him on the score sheet. His 45th minute shot off a drop pass from Gaston Fernandez forced a save from RSL goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, but the deflection caromed off to the path of Adi, who slammed it home for his second goal of the night.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

In the 72nd
minute, Zakuani played wide out left and was running toward goal when he dumped
a ball in the box to Valeri, who tried to shoot on the run. However, Schuler came running from the right
to try and stop the play with a slide tackle, and Shuler ended up sliding over
and around the ball including handling it with his arm. Elfath pointed to the spot for a penalty, and
suddenly, the Timbers had their first chance from the spot. Johnson calmly
stepped up to take the kick against his old team, and easily pushed the ball to
the left as Attinella guessed right. The
score was now 3 to 1 with just over 17 minutes left. With six minute of stoppage plus the half,
the Timbers did a great deal to continue pressuring with Nagbe getting another chance
in the 82dn minute, while Ricketts made a few dramatic saves. With all the
extra time, though, RSL couldn't find a way to get back into the match.

Final Thoughts: The victory now marks
three consecutive road wins for Portland, something that hasn't happened since
2007 when the Timbers were in the USL First Division. The Timbers wanted to break the streak against
RSL, and this result couldn't have been a more emphatic demonstration. Despite losing several players for absences,
RSL held tough in their formation with backups and did reasonably well under
the circumstances. Yes, having those
three players back might have changed their fortunes, but Portland looked good
enough to win this match outright regardless.
Adi looks like the real deal as far as scoring while the midfield has
played outstanding after some early season issues. Ricketts also appears to
have resumed his stellar career with some solid efforts although again his distribution
was spotty at times.